How do the bigger & Better Trades Work?

It works like this: We start with something small and ask someone to exchange me something a little bigger or better for it. We then take that new something and repeat the process for something bigger or better still.

We then repeat this process until the goal is reached. :)

Perhaps an example might help: In the pilot project, Carl started with two fish. He exchanged those for a T-shirt. Then he exchanged the T-shirt for a board game, the board game for a gift card, and the gift card for a bottle of wine. He ended up with an MGMT-autographed guitar which was sold for cash to donate to a charitable cause. :)

Wait. I don't get it.

This explanation can sound a little odd. Why would someone exchange an expensive bottle of wine for a gift card valued at 1/3 of the price? The biggest reason is that the bottle of wine didn't actually "cost" to the owner of the vineyard what its market value is--its price is padded to account for all of a business' expenses. Sometimes businesses or individuals are willing to forgo some of the additional revenue to either get some publicity or actually just to do something good!

The added benefit of a project like this is that most likely there will be fewer than 50 people who actually donate items in exchange before we get to $1 Million dollars. That's a small team to make such a big difference, and each can take pride in their contribution.